How Voluntourism Changed My Life

Melissa Lewis was searching for a holiday with purpose when she found an opportunity to help rehabilitate and care for abused elephants in Thailand through The Global Work & Travel Co.

The Elephant Nature Park is a non-profit elephant rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary working to protect and care for Asian elephants rescued from illegal traders and poachers in Chiang Mai.

Melissa spent three weeks with the elephants, living onsite and working a rotating roster of cleaning, bathing and feeding elephants. In her downtime, Melissa was able to spend time exploring Chiang Mai, learning about the region, the agriculture and the importance of elephant conservation. Melissa left her volunteering experience with a new sense of self-confidence, global awareness and her heart completely full.

Melissa is one of more than 6 million Australians participating in overseas voluntary work each year, contributing 743 million hours to helping organisations in need. While 'Voluntourism' is the fastest growing travel trend for travellers, The Global Work & Travel Co. are encouraging people to do their homework before signing up.

The Global Work & Travel Co. is an Australian-founded premium youth travel company who pair travellers with ethical non-profit organisations for volunteering holidays. Volunteering is their second highest participated division with many travellers choosing to partake in a more meaningful holiday while abroad. Travellers are looking for more than a holiday where they lay on the beach drinking cocktails every day. Travellers now want to immerse themselves in the culture of a country, to live like a local and give back to the country they are visiting.

Voluntourism is worth an estimated 2.6 billion dollars annually with many organisations eager to take on willing volunteers around the globe. It is important travellers research the charities or orphanages they intend to volunteer at to ensure it is helping the cause for the right reasons and that their goodwill isn't' taken advantage of.

It was important for Melissa to align herself with an organisation with a cause she was passionate about. "To know I was helping beautiful creatures who have suffered tremendous pain gave me a sense of satisfaction and purpose. In Australia, it is easy to forget about the horrible things that go on around the world," Melissa says.

The Global Work & Travel Co. is heavily involved with non-profit organisations and as the Company has expanded so too has their philanthropic work. The 'Global Foundation' actively supports animal welfare groups including Animal Welfare League QLD in Australia, and in 2014, the company launched 'Rescue Paws' in Thailand, an organisation that de-sexes, vaccinates and rehomes street dogs. Their efforts with 'Rescue Paws' have provided medical care to more than 5,000 dogs in Thailand and has relocated and rehomed 170 Thai dogs to homes in Canada in 2017 alone.

The key to making sure your volunteering abroad is useful, efficient and positive for both parties is being honest about what skills you really have to offer as a volunteer and careful research into where these skills might be used most effectively.

If you are interested in a volunteering holidays, log on: https://globalworkandtravel.com/